The CSO is committed to celebrating the rich tapestry of voices and artistry in our community. Join the CSO’s Multicultural Awareness Council (MAC) for these upcoming concerts.
Celebrate the rich African-American and Latine culture, history and heritage of outstanding artists and composers with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops.
Choose any three or more MAC series concerts and save up to 30% off
individual ticket prices!
Pricing will vary based on selected concerts and seating. Audra McDonald not eligible for this discount.
Created to give a platform to talented young African American pianists, the Competition will take place this summer in Cincinnati on the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music campus. Join the competition's three finalists as they come together with Louis Langrée and the CSO to compete for the grand prize on Music Hall's stage.
Audra McDonald returns to the Music Hall stage, after her sold-out performance with the Pops in 2018! The winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammys, an Emmy, and the National Medal of Arts, Audra is unparalleled in her versatility as both a singer and actor. This one-night-only event is sure to sell out! Subscribe now and get first access to this performance.
The CSO performs music of American composers representing a variety of perspectives. Bernstein’s optimistic Candide and gripping score to the Oscarwinning film On the Waterfront frame a program including Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, and Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1. In 1933, Price’s magnificent, tour de force Symphony No. 1 was the first symphonic work by a Black woman to be played by a major American orchestra.
Join Pops Principal Guest Conductor Damon Gupton and the Cincinnati Pops for a symphonic celebration of Disney music, animation, and memories — 100 years in the making! Favorite characters and soundtracks from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Parks come together live on stage and on the big screen at Music Hall in a live-to-film concert like never before.
Music drawn from the American heartland opens the program that calls us home, with the beloved “Goin’ Home” theme from Dvořák’s New World Symphony, George Walker’s Lyric for Strings, and baritone Davóne Tines performing Saariaho’s True Fire, a work based on Native American texts and Emmerson’s Spiritual Laws. Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony provides a finale of sweeping and grand themes.
The fate of the Resistance hangs in the balance! New heroes and galactic legends join forces as Rey seeks the aid of Luke Skywalker to thwart the rise of Kylo Ren and the First Order. The Last Jedi unlocks mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past on the big screen as the full force of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, led by conductor Anthony Parnther, performs John Williams’ acclaimed score live to film.
JMR and The Pops ring in 2024 with the sophisticated jazz stylings of Edward “Duke” Ellington to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the legendary pianist and composers’ birth. Swing to the classic and elegant sounds of “Duke” as we celebrate New Year's Eve in style.
Love the classic sounds of Frankie Valli, The Drifters, The Del Vikings? Join conductor John Morris Russell and the Pops for The Doo Wop Project. Featuring stars of Broadway’s smash hits Jersey Boys and Motown: The Musical, the Doo Wop Project brings unparalleled authenticity of sound and vocal excellence to recreate some of the greatest music in American pop and rock history!
Love and fellowship ring throughout Music Hall for one of Cincinnati's most anticipated musical traditions of each year! JMR leads the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Roots Community Choir and Nouveau Players in an evening of powerful and inspirational music.
Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 is filled with optimistic and lyrical music, leading to a finale of fanfares and dances. Conductor Katharina Wincor, who led the May Festival's 2022 production of Candide, returns to Music Hall and welcomes cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason for Shostakovich's raw and rhythmic first Cello Concerto.
Louis Langrée, in his final program as Music Director, leads the CSO in the premiere of a new song cycle by Anthony Davis, whose 2007 You Have the Right to Remain Silent made a poignant impression. Then, Langrée concludes his tenure in collaboration with South African director Janni Younge of Janni Younge Productions, critically acclaimed for their Tony Award-winning puppetry in War Horse, for a visually stunning and firery performance of Stravinsky’s complete ballet score.
In a new arrangement created by conductor Christian Reif, John Adams' massive revisionist opera-oratorio is transformed into an intimate setting for chamber orchestra. Interweaving biblical verse with poetry by Latin American writers, El Niño considers the Nativity story from Mary's perspective and explores in Adams' words, "what is meant by a miracle."
November 30, 2023 | 8:00 pm | Music Hall Ballroom
DARIUS MILHAUD: La création du monde ("The Creation of the World")
COURTNEY BRYAN: Piano Concerto [World Premiere, (orchestral version), CSO Co-Commission]
DUKE ELLINGTON: Night Creature
GEORGE GERSHWIN: An American in Paris (ed. Clague)
JMR and the Pops wrap up the 22/23 season with a Broadway musical reimagined for the concert hall! Nominated for 13 Tony Awards and two GRAMMY Awards in 1998, the show beat out The Lion King for the Tony for Best Original Score. Now you can experience the celebrated smash hit in a whole new way—in concert with the Cincinnati Pops!
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Russian Easter Overture
BILLY CHILDS: Saxophone Concerto [CSO Co-Commission]
MODEST MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. Ravel)
Choreographer Rosie Herrera wants you to imagine that, after a night of gleefully overindulging in absinthe cocktails, filmmaker Federico Fellini stumbles down an alley in old Havana. A door cracks open and music washes over him like a primordial soup of neon and tropical heat.
In 2018, Marvel Studios’ Black Panther quickly became a global sensation and cultural phenomenon, showing a new dimension of what superhero films could be. Relive the excitement of T’Challa becoming king and battling Killmonger all while the Cincinnati Pops performs Ludwig Göransson’s Oscar-winning score live to picture.
JULIA PERRY: Homunculus CF
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto
SERGEI PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 3
Damon Gupton and the Pops give the holidays an afterglow and keep the celebration going into the New Year! Expect timeless classics from the Billie Holiday songbook—songs like "I Cover the Waterfront," "Lady Sings the Blues," and "In My Solitude."
CAROLINE SHAW: The Observatory [CSO Co-Commission]
GEORGE GERSHWIN: Rhapsody No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra
GUSTAV HOLST: The Planets
Academy Award, Emmy and GRAMMY-winning artist, actor, author, and activist, Common joins the Pops for a special one-night-only performance! After dazzling a sold-out crowd with the CSO at Classical Roots in 2016, the legendary R&B and hip-hop icon returns to Music Hall for his debut with the Pops.
Typically a composer responds to a director’s ideas in a film scoring capacity, or a filmmaker is given music to respond to visually, but Sun Dogs explores how stories can be told with music and film from equal footing.
JMR and the Pops open the new season with a powerful celebration of iconic divas of soul, pop, Broadway, R&B, jazz, opera and gospel—think Adele, Aretha Franklin, Carol King, Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston—that'll blow the roof off Music Hall.
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9, op. 95, B. 178, E minor
JAMES LEE III: Ameri'can
JOEL THOMPSON: breathe/burn
FLORENCE PRICE: Adoration
CARLOS SIMON: Amen
GABRIELA ORTIZ: New Work [World Premiere, CSO Commission]
ANTON BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 7
An immerisive staged performance that provides a lens into Black cultural realities and human conditions.
JMR and the Pops join with three powerhouse vocalists to pay R-E-S-P-E-C-T to Aretha Franklin, “the #1 singer of all time” (Rolling Stone). Come celebrate the life and music of an American icon featuring your favorite hits from the Queen of Soul!
PHILIP GLASS: The Canyon
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA: Aconcagua
JOHN ADAMS: City Noir
Pops Principal Guest Conductor Damon Gupton and the Pops treat us to a slice of John Williams’ most beloved scores—just in time for his 90th birthday. Selections from Superman, Star Wars, E.T., Jaws, Witches of Eastwick and more by one of the greatest composers of our lifetime.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Overture to Fidelio
WILLIAM DAWSON: Negro Folk Symphony
LEONARD BERNSTEIN: West Side Story; Symphonic Dances
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Leonore Overture No. 3
CLAUDE DEBUSSY: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun)
MAURICE RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G Major
FELIX MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 3, Scottish
The countdown stops at 007. John Morris Russell leads a thrilling Top Secret program featuring iconic themes and famous music from the longest-running franchise in movie history.
Joy to the world! Cincinnati’s beloved holiday tradition returns with music, warmth, laughter and seasonal inspiration for the entire family. Gather those dear to you to share unforgettable memories in the grandeur of a Music Hall adorned with wondrous decorations and joyful song.
Follow 12-year-old Miguel on an extraordinary musical journey in this Academy Award® winner for Best Animated Feature Film.
Kick off the MAC Series with Louis Langrée and the CSO in a jazz-inspired program featuring Litany of Sins by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis, plus Milhaud's ballet music "The Creation of the World" depicting an African folk creation story.
Take a trip with JMR and the Pops to the sunny shores of Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and beyond in this celebration of sophisticated sounds and romantic rhythms from the southern hemisphere.
Louis Langrée and the CSO present an all-Mozart program featuring Melissa White who brings her “brightly cast timbre” (Chicago Tribune) to the bouncy melodies of Mozart’s Strasburg violin concerto.
Standards at the core of mid-century American music—from icons like Ella Fitzgerald, Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole and more—fill a program featuring vocalists Mandy Gaines and Darius de Haas joining JMR and the Pops.
As one of the earliest church partners for Classical Roots, Zion Baptist Church has been an active supporter of the annual celebration. Members of the CSO will perform in celebration of this Congregation and the 20th anniversary of this important collaboration.
The very first Classical Roots concert took place at Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church on July 11, 2001. The church has been an active supporter of Classical Roots ever since. Celebrate this important 20th-anniversary milestone with members of the CSO and our community partners.
As one of the earliest church partners for Classical Roots, Quinn Chapel AME Church has been an active supporter of the annual celebration. Members of the CSO will perform in celebration of this Congregation and the 20th anniversary of this important collaboration.
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Classical Roots and amplify the many contributions of Black composers, artists and musicians to the American musical landscape.
